Degree Year
2007
Document Type
Thesis - Open Access
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Physics and Astronomy
Advisor(s)
Daniel Stinebring
Keywords
Interstellar medium, Pulsar timing, Gravitational waves
Abstract
Though pulsar timing has confirmed the existence of gravitational waves, no technique has directly detected them. Jenet et al. state the requirements for the Parkes Pulsar Timing Array (PPTA) to make a significant detection of the stochastic gravitational wave background within five years. By employing the scintillation information in observations for each pulsar at every epoch, I believe interstellar scattering, an underestimated source of timing noise, can be corrected enough for the PPTA to meet these requirements. The improved detection threshold will help answer important questions about black hole mergers, galaxy evolution, and gravitation.
Repository Citation
Hemberger, Daniel, "Improving Pulsar Timing through Interstellar Scatter Correction" (2007). Honors Papers. 450.
https://digitalcommons.oberlin.edu/honors/450
